Former teammate Nico Rosberg claimed that Lewis Hamilton had a very poor qualifying session with his eighteenth fastest time, but the seven-time world champion vehemently disagrees with that assessment.
What happens when a seven-time world champion like Lewis Hamilton is overshadowed in Q3 by posting the eighteenth fastest time, especially when he only managed to get a quick lap in very late and seemed to be flirting with elimination for a significant portion of the session? To add insult to injury, his teammate George Russell managed to secure eighth place on the grid.
Nico Rosberg labeled it as “a dramatically bad qualifying session.” The criticism stung Hamilton, and the usually composed seven-time world champion didn’t hold back in his response.
Hamilton found himself blocking the hairpin during his final lap in Q1, losing crucial time and ultimately failing to progress to Q2. Rosberg, who was working as a commentator for Sky Sports, described it as a mistake that could have been avoided and deemed it disastrous for the team.
“I don’t blame the team; I believe it was one of my best qualifying laps,” Hamilton defended. “I just couldn’t nail Turn 14 properly due to the unexpected tailwind.”